Habitat For Humanity Home Furnished by Donations Raised by Two Landmark Education Participants

A project by two interior designers, Suzanne Perrin and Denise Inskip-Seale, to beautifully decorate a Habitat for Humanity home totally from donated material, labor and furnishings. The project was developed while participating with Landmark Education. This video chronicles the development of this project as well as moving coverage of the day the family who helped build the house got to see it finished for the first time.

Womens Resource Fairs: Begun in the Landmark Self-Expression and Leaderhip Program

In 2002 Penny Beatty had an idea to create a resource fair that specifically addressed the needs and interests of women. 5 years and 25 events later, this project is still going strong.

From: Suburban Woman North Shore

The spirit of community was a key factor for many of us who
decided to be part of the fair four years ago, and remains of
great importance to those who participate As the committee
considered implications of recent world events, we could see the
impact in our communities and in our own lives. The request for
help, for clarity, for kindness, has never in our lifetime been so
forthcoming. In our discussions it became clear: here is ourchance to "think globally, act locally.

- Dena Eakles of Echo Valley Farm
Women’s Fair Advisory Board Chair

This Years Theme: Embracing
Reflecting this year’s theme of Embracing,the Womans Resource Fair strives to offer all women a central, credible source for finding enrichment. Embracing local and world cultures, the holistic resources and soothing, nurturing services and products
to help better women’s lives, the Fair promises to be an outstanding medley of interests for women and their families. Food service will be available for lunch and snacks by Whole Foods, both healthy and delicious. Spending the day will prove to be an experience to remember!

Presenting 50 experts offering information, products and services and 40 lectures and panels, participants will benefit from the following areas of specialties: Bodywork & Movement; Coaching; Education; Health & Wellness; Holistic Products;
Organic Home; Retreats & Counseling and Psyche & Lore. Providing the perfect venue to enjoy with friends, family, and co-workers, women can meet, bond, network and mostly, learn.

Featuring World Diversity
Attendees this year will have the opportunity to experience unique offerings of peoples’ traditions, ceremonies and cultures. From indigenous peoples’ prayerful ceremonies and the healing dance of Eastern cultures to the clarity of a formal Japanese tea ceremony, the fair’s programming will embrace the diversity within the community and throughout the world.


WOMEN’S RESOURCE FAIRS
The Women’s Resource Fairs host 5 fairs in the Illinois and Wisconsin area including Evanston, Lake Geneva, Madison, Deerfield and Oak Park. Directed by an Advisory Circle of community leaders, the mission of the Women’s Resource Fairs are to give individual practitioners, non-profits and businesses who serve women, a greater opportunity to enrich the lives of all women through the collective presentation of their services, products and programs. General admission to the fair is $10 and includes access to all booths and educational lectures both days. Admission scholarships are available for women in need.
For more information
call (847) 328-8775 or visit www.womensresourcefair.org.

Special Spectators- A Landmark Education Self-Expression and Leadership Project Begun in 2002

Special Spectators was a project created in 2002 by Blake Rockwell while he was a participant in the Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Program. Blake is a huge sports fan and got the idea to give seriously ill children a chance to attend College Sporting Events. In the 5 years since the project began, Special Spectators has grown to include 40 participating colleges and universities.



At each of the events, children with serious illnesses who would otherwise not be able to participate in sports or attend games, are treated to an all day event. The day includes special VIP seating, tours of the stadium and locker rooms, visits with the players and a visit to the field during half time in which the whole stadium cheers for them. As the project has grown it has been covered by various newspapers and television and radio stations. Recently it was covered by ESPN.com:

From: ESPN.com


'Create moments that take your breath away'

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

Blake Rockwell isn't sure of the exact day that he decided to change his life, and the lives of so many people around him. It may have been in the spring of 2002, when his wife became severely ill while pregnant and gave birth to their daughter 10 weeks prematurely. It may have been a few weeks earlier, when he lost his job with a New York investment bank swallowed up by a bigger firm.

But Rockwell knows for sure when he first began to realize that life is short -- Sept. 11, 2001. Three years later, the anniversary of the attacks falls on a Saturday. Rockwell appreciates the significance of that. He will be at Memorial Stadium in Norman, seeing to it that his Special Spectators have a day that they never forget.
Special Spectators
If you are interested in donating time and/or money to Special Spectators, visit the website, SpecialSpectators.org.


Special Spectators is the name of the program that Rockwell began in the wake of Sept. 11. The spectators are patients at children's hospitals near college campuses. Rockwell arranges for the kids to go to college football games. The schools donate the tickets, and Rockwell sets up the quintessential Saturday experience: tailgate, cheerleaders, mascots, band.

On Saturday, patients from the Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City will tour the Switzer Center, go down on the field before the game to sit in the Sooner Schooner, then watch No. 2 Oklahoma play Houston.



Oklahoma is one of 22 I-A schools that will host Special Spectators this season. A forest is burnt to the ground, and out of the ashes rise a few shoots. Three years later, Rockwell still thinks about the forest.

"Every time there's a beautiful fall day, one of those days when you can really smell the fall in the air," Rockwell says from his home in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago. "You realize that summer is over. You no longer have to suffer the heat and humidity. A gorgeous morning. That's when I think about it."

Rockwell is 37, a Michigan boy, born in Grand Rapids, raised in Midland. His father Harold was active in Michigan State alumni affairs. Rockwell cheered for Michigan. Something about being tired of losing in the 1970s.

His sense of humor is sharp, his laugh quick. Rockwell went to Albion College, and is quick to ply you with details of their 1994 Division III championship. You don't even have to ask.

He describes himself on that Manhattan morning as the chaser in us all. Chasing what, Rockwell isn't quite sure. But he was chasing.

"I had been active in volunteering at Children's Memorial Hospital when we lived in Chicago," Rockwell says. "I got carried away with my own career and things I was doing to advance my career. There was a bit of a void in my life. There was some passion missing."

He remembers the regular Tuesday morning meeting and the tone in Karyn's voice when she interrupted it by cell phone.

"She yelled, 'What's going on?' Rockwell says. "I thought she had discovered my mistresses. I didn't have any but I thought she had found out I did."

The images of that day remain with him, the images he saw on television, and the numbness and panic he saw around him. When your wife works two blocks away, and you can't find her, you don't forget that pit in your stomach. The attacks ended nearly 3,000 lives, and disrupted countless others. Rockwell came away from them with the early onset of midlife crisis. He wanted to know what he was chasing, and why.

"Karyn said to me, 'Think about what you love to do,'" Rockwell says. "You love kids and the children's hospital and sports.' I am a college football nut. By the time August rolls around, I'm saying, 'Honey, I'll see you in early January.' One of the things I learned from volunteering is how much the kids loved sports. They didn't have the experience in sports. Their experience was from TV, or through a video game.

"The atmosphere around a college football game is unique, and so much fun," Rockwell says. "Why not bring the kids to college football games?"

A few months later, Rockwell lost his job. Karyn became "very, very sick" in giving birth to Lauren, who remained in the hospital for eight weeks. She came home wearing a heart and respiratory monitor. Rockwell understood that he didn't want to leave Lauren in someone else's care. He also realized that New York was a long way from the Midwest, where his family and Karyn's family lived.

They moved back to Chicago. Between naps, diaper changes and jars of food, Rockwell began calling I-A schools. In 2002, two schools agreed to serve as hosts. Central Florida and Arizona had plenty of good seats available. Last year, nine schools participated. This year, there are 22, among them teams that have no trouble selling tickets: Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma.

Some schools give only 10 tickets. Some schools give 200. The word has spread among the close-knit world of athletic directors: Special Spectators is a good program. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione is wary of falling for every warm and fuzzy request that crosses his desk. But once his department determines the request is legitimate, Oklahoma tries to grant it.

"If we can't do some of these things, what are we about?" Castiglione asks. "It speaks to our values."

That's where Rockwell came in. He found a sponsor, Levy Cares, the non-profit foundation of Levy Restaurants, the Chicago company that moved stadium food beyond the soggy hot dog. Rockwell has become savvy enough in NCAA-speak that he refers to schools as "member institutions." He is a stay-at-home dad, and he has become the favorite uncle of dozens of sick children around the country.

"I have a little saying I tell myself every day," Rockwell says. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take. It's the moments that take your breath away. That's what you're trying to do. Create moments that take your breath away.

"Yesterday's history," he adds. "Tomorrow's a mystery. Today is a gift. Live life to the fullest. What are you going to do with that gift? I wasn't always like that. But I am now."

Out of the ashes of Sept. 11, shoots have begun to rise.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.


For more information or to bring Special Spectators to your school or Alma Mater visit: www.specialspectators.org

Mothers for Mothers: A Project Created in the Landmark Self-Expression and Leadership Program

Group offering help to mothers

Volunteers assist by tackling tasks

From: Sun Sentinal South Florida
By Laura Burdick-Sherman

Mothers need as much help they can get as far as Joelle Smith is concerned.

And that's her vision for a newly created organization, Mothers For Mothers.

"Every mother needs assistance with watching their kids; either they can't afford it or don't know who to ask," said Smith, of Sunrise. She and her husband, Daryl, have three children younger than 6.

She said she came up with the idea while on maternity leave from her position as drama teacher at Ramblewood Middle School in Coral Springs.

With time on her hands and motivation to do something meaningful, Smith participated in a self expression and leadership class at the Landmark Forum in Dania Beach.

"The course teaches how to live your possibilities out of life," she said. "We had to create a community project to help us learn how to live a better life, and I came up with an organization."

Using her life as inspiration, Smith's idea for the group is to help mothers with the numerous tasks of motherhood.

"I said I want to support and assist other mothers, and just by talking with people, I realized if we all take a stand and do one thing for someone else, it can happen," she said.

After several more leadership classes and with the help from Pediatric Associates in Sunrise and neighbors and mothers at the Little Gym in Plantation, Smith has garnered a team of 50 volunteer helpers.

The group has already helped Marie Gonzalez, 60, of Lauderhill, who is now taking care of four grandchildren between 1 and 6 years old.

"It's a big help. I had a lot of problems with school for the oldest because I was always late to take him to school. I'm slow and not well myself, by the time I get the four ready, I'm late. Now, someone takes him to school, and the teacher is happy. They offered me to do laundry. They sent me lunch, and give me stuff for the kids," she said.

Another recipient is a single mother with two young children -- one of whom requires monthly surgeries. A volunteer helps with meals and baby sitters, Smith said.

"Our biggest hurdle is getting us out there as a source for mothers because they're very resistant even though they need it. Mothers want to do it all," Smith said.

Smith has a supply of baby formula, diapers, laundry detergent, microwaves, and baby furniture, cribs, dressers and a stream of eager volunteers. She's looking for mothers who need help.

For more information about Mothers For Mothers, call 954-465-5413.

Self-Expression and Leadership Program Participant Laura Fiori Creates A Reading Project For Kids That Helps Build A Kitchen At A School In Mexico

Kids Hit the Books to Build A Kitchen

From WCAV- Alexandria Virginia


Elementary school students at Greer and Stony Point are hitting the books to help poor students in rural Mexico build a kitchen at their school.

The second graders have read 2,000 books. They hope people and businesses will donate $5 for each book read. They want to raise $10,000 to build a kitchen for a poor school in rural Mexico.

The Read A Book - Build A Kitchen Program gets kids reading and inspires them to help other kids in need.

“This opportunity to connect with Mexico and give back something was truly a meaningful event for every student,” said Greer Elementary Assistant Principal Lisa Molinaro.


“It makes me feel good because they are finally going to have a chance to feel good as us,” said second grader Caleb Bow.

“I am glad that they can have a great kitchen, and I wish they can have a yummy food,” said second grader Mariko Ogino.

The students are still at work raising money. To make a donation and for more information about the program, go to www.FeedTheHungrysma.org.

Donations are tax deductible.

Landmark Education Graduate Jennifer Kramer Raises Money for Special Olympics Each Year By Taking an Icy Plunge

Really big chill: Polar Plunge's top fund-raiser has warm heart

From: the Chicago Sun-Times
by Rummana Hussain

On Sunday morning, Jennifer Kramer will throw on a Dopey costume and run into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan.

Some of her girlfriends, dressed as the remaining Seven Dwarfs, will follow close behind.

"We tried to recruit a male Snow White but that didn't work out," joked Kramer, who's on target to be the biggest individual fund- raiser in the annual Chicago Polar Plunge, benefitting Special Olympics Chicago, for a second straight year.

As of Thursday, Kramer had collected $4,700 -- a record amount any single participant has raised in the Polar Plunge's seven-year history.

Kramer also set a record last year, bringing in $4,474.

"It's so not about winning," Kramer, 36, said of raising the most cash. "But then again, how great is it to instill the competitiveness for the Special Olympics?"

Kramer, a native of Wauconda, grew up in a family that stressed charity and often delivers clothing, toys, books, and school supplies to a Mexican orphanage.

She first became interested in the Polar Plunge five years ago when she met Maureen Dillon, a former Special Olympics swimmer and basketball player with Down syndrome.

"I've always been profoundly interested in helping the less fortunate, especially children with special needs. [Meeting Dillon] cemented what I had felt all along," said Kramer, a sports development director with the Mayor's Office of Special Events, one of the many Polar Plunge partners.

Kramer, of Old Town, wore street clothes at her first Polar Plunge. But each year since, she, like hundreds of others gathered at the North Avenue Beach festivities, changes into a costume before dipping into the bone-chilling waves that feel "like millions of needles piercing your skin."

She's donned snow fairy and gladiator outfits in the past.

Kramer's contributions alone, officials said, are enough to cover costs of smaller Special Olympics competitions.

"She's very spirited and very generous," said Susan Nicholl, Dillon's sister and executive director of Special Children's Charities, the fund-raising organization for Special Olympics Chicago. "We're so lucky to have her."

POST SCRIPT
From the Again this year, Jennifer Kramer was our top fundraiser collecting a very impressive $7886.47! Jennifer (on the left) and her friends dressed as the 7 Dwarves and added great energy to the day's festivities!

Visit Chicago Polar Plunge

Landmark Self-Expression and Leadership Project in Canada to Raise Money to Fight Maleria in Africa

Mother's Day Bowling Event to Raise Money to Purchase Bednets


From: Canadian Broadcasting Company


More needs to be done to fight malaria, one of the biggest killers of children in Africa, advocates said Wednesday in support of a bed-net fundraising campaign.

For several years, African governments have marked April 25 as Africa Malaria Day, to raise awareness of the devastating effect the disease has on the continent. The infectious disease kills one million children in Africa a year, with 3,000 children dying daily.

Abuk Pearson from Darfur beat the odds for African children by surviving malaria.
(CBC)
Mosquitoes tend to bite at night while children are sleeping, but bed nets can help. UNICEF studies suggest proper use of insecticide-treated bed nets can cut transmission in half, and reduce under-five mortality from all causes by up to 25 per cent.

Canadians are responding to the Spread the Net campaign launched last year by MP Belinda Stronach and satirist Rick Mercer.

Under the motto "Ten bucks. One bed net. One life," the campaign aims to send 500,000 bed nets to Liberia and Rwanda over the next two years. UNICEF will distribute the bed nets.


"I give 10 bucks, I can prevent a child from getting sick or dying," said Nigel Fisher, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. "That's impact."

Startling statistic
Campaign posters declare that a child dies every 30 seconds, a statistic that startled Laurie Hunter of Oakville, Ont.

"It's such a simple, low-cost solution to children dying," said Hunter. "I see my kids tucked into bed safe, and I think as a mother it's hard to believe."


Hunter and her friends decided to host a bowling-for-bed-nets fundraiser on Mother's Day, aiming to raise enough money to buy 1,000 nets.

Spread the Net ambassador and Liberal MP Glen Pearson from London, Ont., said it was easy to have his malaria treated in Canada, but the treatment is not readily available in Africa.

"It can be beat, and it has been beat in our family's case," Pearson said of his adopted daughter Abuk, who was underweight and infected with malaria in Darfur. She was not expected to survive.

Last year, Pearson discovered Abuk's twin sister and older brother were also alive. The family now plans to adopt Abuk's sibilings, who also have malaria, saying she has the right to live with her own family.

Landmark Education Graduate Ameet Maturu brings New Yorkers together in the First Annual Great Squash Cook Off.

The Great Squash Cook Off

From: The Park Slope Courier
By: Mathew Moll

While millions around the country are focused on a game to decide football supremacy, the local squash world will be lining its stomachs, preparing to crown its own champion.

Twenty contestants are slated to compete in The Great Squash Cook-Off, a community-based “Iron Chef” inspired contest, on Feb. 4 at the V-Spot – a vegan restaurant – located at 156 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.

“This is a chance to bring people in the community together and support seasonal eating,” said Ameet Maturu, whose company The Intuitive Cook organized the event. “We hope people will more become aware of what is available naturally this time of year.”

On the Food Network’s “Iron Chef,” the contestants are assigned one ingredient from which to cook a gourmet meal. Maturu’s version is to take one seasonal ingredient, make one dish, keep it local and keep it vegan. Which according to the American Vegan Society, means only products from the plant kingdom are allowed. No meat. No dairy.

Maturu, 28, described seasonal eating as people incorporating the season’s natural harvest into their diets. This, according to Maturu, supports local farms, benefits the body, and helps consumers connect with the origins of food.

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About 30 contestants submitted recipes and short anecdotes describing how they created their dishes. Judges selected the 20 contestants who were chosen on how interesting the stories were and the simplicity of the dish.

Members of the public will also be able to attend and vote on their favorite dish. The V-Spot is scheduled to open its doors at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 4 to the public. Admission to the cook-off is $15.

The winner will be awarded $200 cash prize and the dish will be featured on the V-Spot’s menu where it will remain for at least the winter, but with the possibility of becoming a permanent item.

They’ll compete in one of three categories: soups/stews/chilis, entrees and sides, and desserts.

“Winter squash is available naturally this time of year and provides many of the vitamins the body needs to survive the winter,” said Maturu.

Danny Carabano, owner of the V-Spot, saw the contest as a chance to have a new event at his nine-month-old restaurant.

When Maturu and Carabano met through a mutual acquaintance their interests complemented each other like tempeh and tofu.

The V-Spot is in its nascent state searching for new ways to reach what Carabano called a growing vegetarian population in Park Slope.

“When Ameet and I met he already had the cook-off in mind,” said Carabano who worked for six years as a teacher while he saved to open his restaurant. “After we spoke it just made sense.”

Carabano, who has a palate for cooking, and wears faded jeans and a T-shirt is a restaurateur, sous chef, promoter and waiter.

Carabano said limited dining options motivated him to open a vegan restaurant, and Maturu’s idea seemed like fun, even if he has only made squash soup.

“Yeah, I generally don’t make squash,” said Carabano. “So I am interested in trying new dishes.”

Maturu moved to New York City from San Francisco to study at the Institute of Interactive Nutrition, where he became a holistic health counselor. At Maturu’s new business, The Intuitive Cook, he advises his clients on diet, nutrition, and lifestyle. The idea to combine one of Maturu’s favorite shows, “The Iron Chef,” with his professional career was an ideal way for Maturu to meet members of the community and cook with them.

But culinary combat with dishes with names such as Three Sisters Chili and Three Sisters Stew, the event may prove to be more about camaraderie than clashing; more about the history of dishes than the histrionics the Food Network’s reality show provides.

The same panel of six judges, Carabano, Maturu, Kala Lea, co-owner of Smooch, an organic restaurant in Fort Green; Vikas Khanna, a restaurant consultant and owner; Anna Lappe, the author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic; and Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of Vegan with a Vengeance will judge the dishes based on taste, presentation, and ease of preparation.

“We want something other people in the community can make,” said Carabano.

“The idea of this event is to help people get more connected with their food, and to others who enjoy cooking,” said Maturu.

Landmark Education Graduate, Best Selling Author and Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, Ben Zander Interviewed on Canadian Television

Landmark Education Graduate Ben Zander, best selling business author and conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Symphany was interviewed on Canadian Televsion. He is show leading a seminar for musicians in Toronto Canada and speaking about leadership, transformation, Landmark Education and The Landmark Forum.

Landmark Education comes to URI, offers new learning experience - News

Landmark Education comes to URI, offers new learning experience - News

Landmark Education Graduate Project Uses Improv Comedy to Contribute to Survivors of Sexual Assualt

Using Improvisational Comedy to Bring Laughter and Light Heartedness Back Into the Lives of Survivors of Sexual Assault.



Andrea Howe used the Landmark Education Self Expression and Leadership Program to create an organizations called "Living Out Loud". A survivor of sexual assault herself, Andrea had come a long way in her healing proccess and wanted to contribute to other women with a similar experience.

Living Out Loud workshops use the vehicle of improvisational comedy to help survivors who are ready begin to bring laughter and light-heartedness back into their lives.

Listen to an iterview with Andrea Howe on Washington Post Radio

Living Out Loud Website

Landmark Education Self-Expression and Leadership Project Gives Senior Citizens a Thrill by Taking Them for Motorcycle Rides

Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Project called G.O.P.A.T. (Giving Old People A Thrill)



New Zealand Self Expression and Leadership Program Participant Max Vodane created a project that brought the Ulysses Motor Bike Club together with the St. Andrews Retirement Community. Bike Club Members took Senior Citizens from St. Andrews for rides on Motorcyles.

Landmark Education Graduate Ginna Goodenow Creates Project to Raise Money to buy Prosthetic Limbs for Kids

Limbs For Life


From 9NEWS NOW Washington D.C.
If there was ever a pitch for a cause, Jessica Rogers knows how to hit it.

"Some kids that don't have legs and arms, they're gonna get money for them to get fake legs and arms."

"How important is that?" asks 9NEWS NOW reporter Emily Schmidt.

"That’s really important because you want to feel like everybody else."

So does Dayton, a kid who runs the bases in 12 seconds flat with out the help of legs. Margaret Wesley wants to see him running even faster with a prosthetic.

"When I look at kids playing ball, I see kids who have a chance to do what I've done as an amputee."

A bus accident took her leg when she was 18; a prosthetic leg gave freedom in return. But it is not cheap. Jerett's dad, Craig Coleman, says his son's braces are 5000 dollars for each quickly-growing leg.

"Insurance says every three years, but he's seven, and on his fourth pair."

Ginna Goodenow says, "These kids deserve to live happy, normal, free lives. And prosthetics are important for them to be able to do that."

So Saturday morning on the national mall, kids of all abilities are invited to come get their kicks in any kind of a sport and benefit a nonprofit group called "Limbs for Life."

"They provide limbs at very low costs. For 1500 dollars they can achieve what 30 thousand may cost someone else."

Jessica's own prosthetic legs are getting fixed right now. She knows what they give her and what others think when she goes without.

"They probably think, 'oh my gosh --- her legs. She doesn't have any...ugh!' But really, I just had surgery on them, haven't you had surgery before?"

These kids can outrun adversity now; imagine what would happen if prosthetics took them to the next step.


The second Annual Kicking For Kids Who Cant is going to be held on October 7th, 2007.

See Addtional Coverage of the project on Fox News

Visit the Kicking For Kids Who Cant Website

Landmark Education Self Expression & Leadership Project Uses Photography to Help Children Living in a Tough Neighborhood Find Beauty in Everyday Life

Uplifiting Images Of Tenderloin CommunityStudents Help Change Perception Of Tough Neighborhood

See the Video

From ABC7 KGO-TV/DT San Francisco
By Carolyn Tyler
Mar. 28 - KGO - We want to take you to a school in a tough San Francisco neighborhood that's helping their students rise above their environment in a very creative way.

De Marillac Academy sits in the heart of the Tenderloin, a neighborhood plagued by chronic homelessness, drugs and despair.

Sufian Yahya, Student: "I live across the street and when some people ask me for spare change and they're smoking in my face, so then I just have to walk away."

Most of the students here live nearby. De Marillac is a Catholic elementary school founded in 2001 specifically to meet the needs of inner-city kids. Once they enter the classroom, the chaos outside is left behind.

Mike Daniels, De Marillac Academy: "We believe that we are really serving as a beacon of hope for the families and the students of the Tenderloin."


Today, these fourth graders who are sometimes overwhelmed by the negatives of the neighborhood will focus literally on the positive. They're partnering with high school students from Sacred Heart to learn digital photography.

It's Sally Allen's idea. She's with a program called Artseed and says the purpose is to bring joy.

Sally Allen, Artseed: "Also, to help them with their self-image and to give them a sense of their community."

The Civic Center Farmer's Market presented a vibrant backdrop for the young photographers to try their hand at capturing images around them.

Precious Listana, Student: "Pigeons, buildings and a fountain."

They had no problems finding things of beauty in their own backyard -- uplifting pictures and inspiring photos that might help change their perception of where they live.

The children's photos will eventually become part of a permanent display at school -- another view of their neighborhood.

Copyright 2007, ABC7/KGO-TV/DT.

Landmark Forum Graduates and Filmakers Document Fair Trade Measures in Africa

240,000 Miles, $1,000 in Shots, Two Feet From Instant Death

Jessica and Bill Kizorek are not strangers to international travel. They have been to a combined total of 200 countries, including one journey involving all seven continents.

By the beginning of 2007 the pair had committed to a unique kind of travel mission—giving away, in twelve months, one million frequent flyer miles to various global charities. They would also throw in their expertise as filmmakers to go abroad and document the good works of organizations who were helping out the world’s needy.


The daddy/daughter duo just got back from one of those video missions this time to Kumasi and Accra, both in the West African country of Ghana. “This was the most challenging so far,” said Jessica. “In our earlier trips to Cambodia and Moldova no vaccinations were required. Because of the potential for sickness I loaded up on Hepatitis A, Diptheria, Percussus, Tetanus, Meningitis, and Yellow Fever shots. My dad got even a few more because he was heading off to Rwanda and the Congo the following month. Both of us got prescription for aspirin-sized malaria tablets (Malerone). Together we spent over a thousand dollars on shots.”

In addition, they were outfitted with Buzz Off clothing, a product made by ExOfficio. The garments are embedded with a man-made version of a natural insect repellant found in certain chrysanthemums. This also helped protect the duo from potentially dangerous insect bites.

Delta’s new service direct from the USA to Accra saved the team from having to use up two days by flying first to London and then to West Africa. “I turned in 240,000 miles for a couple of tickets,” explained Bill. “By the time we arrived the heat, humidity and mosquitoes were ready. That first day we met a girl from Boston college who was working in town. She told us that, in spite of taking her malaria tablets, she had contracted Malaria three times.”

The Kizoreks had two missions while here; the first was to document the effect that vitamins and glyco-nutrients had on impoverished children in Accra, the second was to make a documentary film about how Fair Trade cocoa bean farming around the Kumasi region had improved the quality of life for tens of thousands of workers. Manna Relief was supplying the food supplements, and Lutheran World Relief (LWR) was now in partnership with Divine Chocolate—the end product of the cocoa bean harvest.

One of the most compelling days was at an orphanage outside two hour’s drive north of Africa. Rural. Twenty kids, mostly orphaned by parents who died of AIDS. They had a rickety structure about the size of a small American bedroom, but split in two. Ten kids slept on each side.

In spite of the almost abject poverty, the locals put out a welcome mat of with song and dance. After the ceremony, and distribution of vitamins there was a walk to hole in the ground where the townspeople scoop out buckets of a foggy substance resembling dirty dish water more than it does acceptable drinking water. They don’t boil it, just drink it, swallowing whatever bits of earth and bugs are suspended in it. Sickness abounds in the community largely due to a ghastly water supply. It would cost $5,500 to dig a well that would provide clean water for the entire community of 2,000 human beings, but none is planned.


Although also a poor town, a different scene appeared outside of Kumasi, five hours drive north of Accra. Here 40,000 cocoa farmers have banded together to form the Kapua Kakoo cocoa bean cooperative. Because of a deal with Divine Chocolate and now LWR, the beans are sold under “Fair Trade” agreements to allow the farmers to make a sustainable wage out of their efforts.

Jessica and Bill filmed the farm operations where cocoa bean pods grew on thirty-foot tall trees. Breaking open an avocado-sized pod revealed dozens of seeds with a slimy, white, vanilla-tasting coating. Many of these beans would later be dried out and shipped internationally to be processed by Divine Chocolate. The extra money created by the Fair Trade practices was invested in schools, wells, and other projects (snail farms, soap-making) which allowed the locals to enjoy, creating a more life for the farm families.

Because of the lack of resources in some parts of Africa, vehicle maintenance is not up to U.S.A. standards. This may or not have been the cause of a “near death” experience for Bill Kizorek, but he was lucky to leave this assignment alive. After checking emails one night he hopped into a taxi for a five minute ride back to the Precise Lodge. The taxi stopped because a street fight was blocking the road. What did not stop was a semi truck (who whose driver would later tell police the brakes failed) that came barreling into the stopped traffic. It appeared that, at the last second, he might have tried to aim his eight-foot wide truck into the four-foot space between Bill’s taxi and the cab parked in the opposite direction. In an instant Bill’s taxi was hurled into a drainage ditch as the truck plowed into four more vehicles. Bill kicked out the window of the taxi, ran for his life—not knowing if the truck was a fuel tanker ready to blow up.

According to Bill, “the taxi that was next to me facing towards the truck was severely demolished. If the truck was just a foot or two over on my side, my head would have been ripped off by the impact. I have no idea why he decided to veer into the other lane rather than just crush us instead. He must have been in my lane to begin with because he was on a narrow road traveling in the same direction as my taxi.” Bill ended up covered in bruises and was put on the next Delta flight to New York.

According to Jessica, “my father is aware of the risks that go hand in hand visiting some of the poorest areas of the world: bugs, heat, snakes, diseases. This was something so random. I am glad we are both returning to tell the story of the need as well as those who have found a way to survive by taking control of their own fate.”

Last year Bill Kizorek entered his S.E.L.P. course with no idea of what he was going to do. He chose, for his project, to go to Thailand and Cambodia to document the work of a Seattle-based charity. He went on to donate a million more frequent flyer miles to charity in 2007. Jessica will be approved to lead the Self Expression and Leadership Program in June of 2007.

Jessica lives in Dania Beach, FL, Bill in Lisle, IL

visit www.twoparrot.com NEWS

Innovative Prison Project Utilizes Landmark Education Course Concepts

Moving beyond prison system

From the Philadelphia Inquirer
By David Parrish

Today, everyone is concerned about crime. We all live with the threat of becoming victims.

The alarming costs of crime include loss of life, traumatized people, disrupted families, and the enormous financial burden involved in maintaining a police presence and housing an ever-growing prison population.

The evidence continues to indicate that what we are doing to reduce crime is not working, and yet the actions we take continue to be the same.

I have worked in the prison system for 33 years as a psychologist and an administrator. I have interviewed thousands of inmates and watched as the justice system processed them through the prison experience.

I have concluded that our social perceptions of people we call criminals are the source of our ineffective actions.

Psychologically, this is fairly simple to see. If you perceive and relate to someone in a particular way, it is highly likely that person will behave consistent with your expectations.

This is evident when frustrated parents see their teenage children as "problems" and punish them with restrictions. The teens fight these attempts at control and escalate into more risky forms of behavior.

In our justice system, we label people as "criminals," confine them, punish them, and subject them to experiences that leave them with the conclusion that they are no good.

Then we expect them to change into good, law-abiding citizens.

This process often starts with a one-time, nonviolent offense. But after being processed through our system, the offender begins to see himself as a criminal for life and is then willing to escalate to more serious offenses because he no longer sees a future in which he is on an equal playing field with the rest of society.

Last year, at Riverfront Prison, in Camden, we introduced a transformational approach toward inmates that we call the Impact Project.

Our project has been granted permission to utilize leading-edge technology designed by Landmark Education, an internationally recognized industry leader in the training and development field.

At Riverfront, this approach helps reveal to the incarcerated offenders how their view of the world around them - and of themselves - results in their destructive and threatening behaviors.

In turn, the program enables those who supervise the inmates to get at the sources of criminal behavior, and thus help change it rather than just impose their moral judgments.

Prisoners are oriented toward a new view of themselves and the world, one that empowers them to imagine and create a future that breaks the cycle of incarceration.

Inmates at Riverfront must qualify for the Impact Project.

To qualify, inmates must be within a year of parole eligibility, pass an interview by a committee consisting of custody and treatment staff, and make written agreements for full participation, which includes committing to completing a high school education.

Currently, 85 of our 1,000 inmates are enrolled in the program.

The project begins with a three-day, 36-hour intensive "Breakthrough Course." This is a rigorous inquiry that provides the inmates with a clear picture of how they developed anti-social identities, and leaves them with the choice of who they want to be in the future.

Then the inmates participating in the course are moved together into a housing unit and guided to establish a peer learning community where they practice using their newly acquired self-transformational tools in everyday situations.

Follow-up seminars are provided to expand on the foundation material.

The project provides inmates with continual programming and support for the duration of their incarceration and even after their release.

So far, two of the "graduates" have been released. Both seem to be doing well in adjusting to society outside.

This weekend, I am scheduled to make a public presentation of this crime-fighting strategy.

I will speak at 3 p.m. Sunday at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Admission is free. For more information call: 610-329-6755.

I hope to prompt a new conversation about crime in which we collectively transform our approach to dealing with it.

Slowing, if not ending, the cycle of crime and incarceration will create a safer environment for all of us.

David Parrish, a forensic psychologist, is administrator of Riverfront State Prison, in Camden.

Original Article

Landmark Self Expression and Leadership tackles the revitalization of a New Jersey Town

Jamesburg packs revitalization meeting


From the Princeton Packet
By: Audrey Levine, Special Writer
03/23/2007


The meeting focused on finding ways to better the downtown business district.

JAMESBURG — More than 100 residents attended a meeting at the Grace M. Breckwedel School to talk about how to improve the borough's downtown.
The March 15 meeting was sponsored by the Jamesburg Revitalization Coalition. Those who attended helped fill out a survey that asked respondents to list possible ways to improve the downtown area.
The coalition, an independent organization of homeowners and business owners in Jamesburg, has joined with three students from the Rutgers Bloustein School of Policy and Planning to begin looking at ways to revitalize the area.
Downtown Jamesburg extends from Buckelew Avenue, and along East and West Railroad avenues, according to Elliot Stroul, president of the coalition.
Mr. Stroul said that the students did research for, and prepared, a visual presentation of the different options for changing downtown Jamesburg in the categories of steets, pedestrians, buildings, signs, parking, open space and mobility.
Some of the proposed options included creating a Main Street with a tree-lined boulevard as a median; creating a sidewalk with outdoor seating from restaurants; building two-story row houses; and using banner-style signs.
Residents in attendance rated the options on a scale of negative 10 to positive 10, based on how appropriate they believed the choices to be for the town.
After the presentation, attendees filled out a written survey that asked about conditions in Jamesburg and what changes might improve the area.
Mr. Stroul said the results, along with those taken at the coalition's Feb. 17 meeting, will be given to the Rutgers students. He said the students would then draw up a plan of proposed changes to be presented in late April or early May.
"We will then review it with the Land Use Board and the Township Council," Mr. Stroul said. "We will prioritize what projects need to be done and try to get the money from Middlesex County."
According to Teddy Ehmann, secretary of the coalition and owner of Family Framers, the coalition wants to involve the community in planning any changes.
He said he began work on the renovation project, dubbed "I Love Jamesburg," after taking a leadership course with Landmark Education, which works with people who are looking to make a difference in their communities.
"This project is to benefit the community," he said.
Many of the residents in attendance said they were glad to have some input in the possible changes for downtown Jamesburg.
"I am interested in the future of Jamesburg," said resident Dan Dobromilsky. "They asked very good questions and these are the types of things we need to analyze to have the best future for Jamesburg."
Resident Gail Somers also said she wants to be involved in what is going to happen.
"I want to see it move in the right direction," she said.

Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Project Takes on Abandoned Lots in Chicago

Olympic ambitions for lots

From: The Booster Wicker Park
January 24, 2007
By ANITRA ROWE Staff Writer
Sean Parnell of Wrigleyville is doing his part to get Chicago ready for its 2016 Olympic bid.

Parnell doesn't have millions for a new temporary stadium. But he does have a plan to turn abandoned Chicago properties into points of community pride.

And Parnell believes that this local activism could help transform Chicago over the next decade -- creating more complete streetscapes that would impress the likes of the visiting International Olympic Committee, and strengthen the city.

Parnell is compiling a list of Chicago's most ugly, dangerous and neglected properties for his "Chicago Abandoned Lot Project."

His initial goal is to fix up five properties by March 22, but Parnell also has committed to tackling troubled properties in the long-term.

Parnell worries that when the IOC visits Chicago, and travels through the areas on the South Side where the Olympics might be held, the blighted areas they see "may lead them to think that Chicago may not be up to the world standard set by previous Olympic cities."

"I think the Olympic Committee holds American cities to a higher standard and may not perceive Chicago up to that standard," Parnell said.

Outside of Olympic ambitions, Parnell said he also fears for those who live near the wide swaths of vacant land that stretch across the South Side and the West Side's abandoned buildings.

In his youth, Parnell said he found these landscapes "strangely intriguing."

But now Parnell said he knows how dangerous blight can be. And as a marketing consultant with experience in research and networking, Parnell thinks he can do something about it.

Parnell's project is an outgrowth of a leadership seminar he's taking through the international Landmark Education program. Chicago's Landmark Education office is at 820 N. Orleans.

Parnell said his role in the lot transformation process will be one of a catalyst and a plan maker.

After putting together his list of community eyesores, and "whittling down" the options to an initial five, he'll contact the property owners and talk to them about their development plans.

Then, Parnell said he will offer to help the property owners make their sites the best they can be.

That could mean locating a buyer or developer for the site, Parnell said, or finding a development compromise that's agreeable to neighboring properties, where previous plans may have failed.

Parnell said lots are abandoned for a variety of reasons. The property at hand could be at the center of a law suit, he said, or the landowner might be waiting for the property to increase in value.

But while a property sits neglected, Parnell said it often become a magnet for garbage, graffiti, gang activity and drug dealing. When abandoned properties catch fire, a number of additional hazards are presented, he said.

Each site Parnell approaches will have different development possibilities, he said. Some will work best as neighborhood gardens or parks, while others could be developed to serve community needs, such as grocery stores, hair salons and restaurants.

Parnell said many abandoned North Side lots -- and lots on the near West and South sides -- have been developed in the past 10 to 15 years, as gentrification has pushed up and out from the city's center.

While the change has been largely positive, Parnell said many people also have been priced out of these neighborhoods.

By working with communities near the lots he undertakes, Parnell said he'll focus on improving sites without displacing those who live nearby.

For more information about Parnell's project, visit www.seanparnell.com, or to recommend a property, e-mail Parnell at parnellsf@hotmail.com.

New Zealand Landmark Education Graduates Bring Clean Water Project to Zambia

Bringing joy to the world ...

From the The Star
Canterbury, New Zealand
14.03.2007
By AMANDA LEGGE
Les and Bridgette Richards no longer have concerns about an empty future without children.

The Bromley couple, who had been trying to conceive since they married in 1999, will not only have their own child next month – they are also helping make the lives of children in Zambia a whole lot better.

Mr Richards, 39, is the planning manager for Tip Top and last year took on a personal project he called “Ice Creams for Africa”. The project was inspired by his participation in a course run by Landmark Education.

He originally wanted to bring joy to the children in Kafue, where the couple’s sponsored child Yvonne, 8, lives with her family, by sending them a container of frozen icecreams to try.

He emailed colleagues to see if they wanted to help. Nearly 30 came on board and the group then contacted ChildFund New Zealand for advice.
ChildFund told them the most pressing need in the Kafue Project where Yvonne lived was a clean water supply.

A target of $28,000 was set, to buy a “joy pump” – a children’s merry-go-round whose circular motion pumps water from a borehole to a tank.

At the same time as the project was kicking off, the Richards were having their last IVF treatment.

And now their baby daughter is due on April 9.

Mr Richards attributes the Landmark Education course with turning their lives around. Instead of focussing on themselves, they were taught to think about how they could help others. Good things seemed to eventuate since they took on that mindset.

So far “Ice Creams for Africa” has raised $7000.

# To find out more about the project see www.icecreamsforafrica.co.nz

Landmark Education offers Landmark Forum in Seoul South Korea

EarthTimes.org

SAN FRANCISCO, Landmark Education is offering its flagship program, The Landmark Forum, in the Korean language for the first time on March 23, 24, 25, and 27 in Seoul, South Korea. With the launch of The Landmark Forum in South Korea, Landmark Education has expanded its operations to 25 countries.

Over the years, Seoul, a forward-thinking city of over 10 million people, has offered its citizen's state-of-the art technology in schools and set the standard of educational excellence throughout the country.


"We look forward to The Landmark Forum providing South Koreans with an opportunity to experience breakthroughs in effectiveness and communication," said Landmark Education's representative in Seoul, Hyunsu Cho.

According to Jerome Downes, Landmark Education's executive in Japan and Southeast Asia, "Offering The Landmark Forum in Seoul, South Korea, represents Landmark Education's commitment to making these unique programs available where there is a demand." Landmark Education also offers The Landmark Forum in simplified and traditional Chinese, Thai, Japanese, English, French, German, Hebrew and Spanish.

Landmark Education, founded in 1991, provides innovative personal growth and development programs to individuals, organizations, communities and institutions. With more than 50 offices in 25 countries, Landmark Education is a worldwide leader in the training and personal development industry, with more than 160,000 people participating in its programs each year. Landmark Education's more than 50 programs -- including its flagship course, The Landmark Forum -- are the products of extensive research, and produce breakthroughs in effectiveness and communication.